The health dangers of wearing a vintage thong like Kim Kardashian

The health dangers of wearing a vintage thong like Kim Kardashian

The health dangers of wearing a vintage thong: We reveal the truth as Kim Kardashian sports stringy underwear which a model wore in the 90s

  • The reality star, 37, was seen wearing a piece from Tom Ford’s Spring/Summer 1997 collection for Gucci
  • But thongs can easily transfer bacteria and vintage clothing may not be properly cleaned
  • New York City OBGYN Dr Jill Rabin reveals how wearing the skimpy material can lead to vaginal infections

Kim Kardashian has raised eyebrows after she shared a photo of herself sporting a thong previously worn by a model in the 1990s.

The reality star, 37, recently shared a post on Instagram plugging her new contour kits in which she is wearing a vintage Gucci thong.

The garment first appeared on the runway as part of Tom Ford’s Spring/Summer 1997 collection for Gucci and is actually part of a bikini set.

While it is unclear whether Kim found the piece at a vintage store, got a hand-me-down from her mother Kris Jenner, or it was gifted to her by Gucci from their archives, many were left horrified by the idea wearing underwear that was potentially previously worn by someone else.

Experts say that although Kim likely has all the resources to properly clean her clothing and take care of her health – the rest of us should be wary when it comes to wearing buying vintage clothing.

Kim Kardashian, 37, is making headlines again after she posted a photo of herself on Instagram sporting a vintage Gucci thong from the 1990s


The garment first appeared on the runway as part of Tom Ford’s Spring/Summer 1997 collection for Gucci (left and right) and is actually part of a bikini set. New York OBGYN Dr Jill Rabin spoke to Daily Mail Online about potential health risks from wearing thongs

Ritual Vintage clothing store owner Stacy Iannacone told the HuffPost that not every piece of vintage clothing can be dry cleaned.

This means that not all hand-me-down clothing may be able to be doused in solvents that remove bacteria and stains.

Dr Jill Rabin, of the department of obstetrics & gynecology at Northwell Health in New York told Daily Mail Online that if vintage clothing is not cleaned properly, it could lead to dust mites, bacteria such as E. coli, dander and other allergens that enter the vagina and cause rashes or infections.  

She adds that you are unaware of any health problems the person wearing the underwear before you had.


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‘Kim Kardashian has enough resources, I’m sure, to get things properly laundered and I’m sure she has good doctors,’ Dr Rabin said.

‘But I don’t want people reading this to start going into vintage stores looking for thongs. Buying new clothes is always best.’ 

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR DELICATES 

 If they’re ‘hand wash only’:

  • Fill a sink or a bowl with cold or warm water depending on the label
  • Add detergent meant for fine fabrics
  • Fasten the garment and turn inside out
  • Soak it for five minutes and knead it while it is underwate
  • Dump out the basin, refill it with cool water and repeat
  • Gently squeeze out water and lay flat to dry 

If they’re machine-washable:

  •  Treat any stains with a stain remover
  • Fasten the garment and place it in a mesh laundry bag
  • Select the temperature instructed on the label and wash on most gentle cycle
  • Add a small amount of laundry detergent as the water fills the machine
  • Remove the delicates from the bag and lay flat to dry

Source: Good Housekeeping   

According to a 2017 study from the Good Housekeeping Institute in the UK, 83 percent of clean underwear contains about 10,000 living bacteria.

The undergarments pick these up from washing machines that never get clean, the Sun first reported.  

GHI recommended that underwear after each use be washed at 60C or 140F and to throw them out every year.

Dr Rabin said there also other potential health risks that come with wearing thongs.      

One concern is material. The Gucci thong appears to be made from nylon or polyester, but Dr Rabin says that the best material when it comes to undergarments is cotton.  

Cotton is more breathable than other materials and allows air to circulate around the vagina, which takes moisture away and discourages the growth of bacteria such as yeast. 

Nylon and polyester are versatile fabrics and, although they are lightweight, they do not breathe as well as natural fibers do.

This means these fabrics trap more moisture and heat, which is a ‘breeding ground for bacteria’.

Several studies have shown that polyester also traps more body odor than cotton. 

One 2014 study from Belgium found that polyester clothes tend to smell worse than cotton, particularly after exercise, because odor-causing bacteria grows better on polyester.

‘It is my understanding if you launder a piece of cotton compared to if a piece of synthetic fiber is laundered, the bacteria will be more present on the synthetic fiber than the cotton,’ Dr Rabin told Daily Mail Online

Thongs also are mostly thin strips of material, particularly the waistband and the back of it, making it an easy for bacteria to spread.

Thongs are a thin strip of material, particularly the waistband and the back of it, making it an easy way for bacteria to spread from the rectum to the vagina, Dr Rabin explained

She also said that although Kim likely has resources to properly clean undergarments, vintage underwear could lead to infections if they haven’t been properly laundered

‘If a piece of material near the tushy moves, it could deposit bacteria from the rectum into the vagina,’ Dr Rabin said.

‘For most women, the space between the vagina or urethra and the rectum is two, four centimeters at most.

‘And our underwear moves all the time so if it moves just a couple of centimeters, you can get bacteria in there that lead to infections.’ 

Dr Rabin does say that thongs are generally alright to wear if you don’t have a tendency to get infections.

‘If people have not had bladder or vaginal infections and they have good immune systems, then wearing a new thong is probably okay,’ she said.

‘But if anybody has had recurrent vaginitis or yeast infections, that’s a type of material that can collect bacteria from the rectum to the vagina easily so I would recommend those people avoid wearing them.’

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